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The Citizen's Guide to the Supreme Court

Brett and Nazim are two attorneys who hate being attorneys. In lieu of practicing law, they have instead developed a podcast to help make the Supreme Court more accessible to the average person. Each week, Brett and Nazim will discuss current Supreme Court cases and how they affect your daily life, while also ruminating on how their dreams of fame and fortune resulted in jokes about Star Wars and wondering how Ruth Bader Ginsburg thinks about Facebook. This Podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not legal advice. If anything you hear leads you to believe you need legal advice, please contact an attorney immediately.
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This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not legal advice.  If you hear anything that leads you to believe you need legal advice, please contact an attorney immediately.

May 8, 2022

On this week's podcast, Brett interviews Gabe Roth from Fix the Court about judicial ethics and recusal reform for the Supreme Court.  Gabe discusses the scope of Fix the Court's reform in light of current events, what is like to testify before Congress, and the future of any such reform at the legislative level.  Nazim returns from captivity next week.

May 3, 2022

The emergency podcast alarm has rarely sounded so definitely, as Brett and Nazim discuss the fall-out from Alito's leaked opinion in Dobbs, including what a draft opinion means for the outcome of the case, what a leak means for the credibility of the Supreme Court, and whether this decision will likely be the majority decision.  Law starts from the jump.

May 1, 2022

This week's case discusses Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, in which the Court must determine whether a public school football coach who prays on the field violates the Establishment Clause.  This case is ripe with factual issues, legal issues, and sadly very little discussion about actual football.  Law starts at (02:35).

Apr 24, 2022

This week's episode covers the age-old battle of LAWS v. CONSTITUTION.  The first case is U.S. v. Vaello-Madero, in which the Supreme Court held that denying Puerto Rican residents SSI benefits did not violate Equal Protection.  The second case is City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, in which the Supreme Court tied the First Amendment in knots trying to resolve sign problems.  Law starts at (02:04).

Apr 17, 2022

This week's episode covers Concepcion v. U.S., which continues the Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Step Act, a bi-partisan law aimed at lowering sentencings for drug dealers, but maybe wasn't drafted super well.  Law starts at (04:10).

Apr 10, 2022

This week's episode starts with a discussion on Justice Jackson's appointment to the Supreme Court (starts from the beginning), and moves to a discussion about Shurtleff v. City of Boston (17:26), which asks whether a government policy which allows citizen's flags can exclude a religious flag under the First Amendment.

Mar 27, 2022

This week's supersized episode covers the Senate Confirmation hearings of Ketanji Brown Jackson, while also covering Clarence Thomas, Ramirez v. Collier, and Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Election Commission.  The law starts from the beginning and is mostly consistent except for a conversation about parenting, reality shows, and Encanto in the third act.  The podcast is also taking next week off, but will return on April 10, 2022.

Mar 20, 2022
This week's episode covers two brief Supreme Court orders with big political ramifications for the future.  Moore v. Harper (N.C.) and Toth v. Chapment (PA) are two State Supreme Court decisions where the Court decided the political maps instead of the legislature.  This is discussed through the fact that Brett saw Harry Potter for the first time and now wants to talk about it twenty years after its release.  Law starts at (09:45) but your house gets 10 points if you listen all the way through!
Mar 13, 2022

This week's episode covers recent decisions in U.S. v. Tsarnaev (reinstating the death penalty for the Boston Marathon Bomber) and Cameron v. EMW Women's Surgical Center (allowing AG to intervene in abortion case when everyone else gave up).  It's all killer, no filler because the law starts at (1:33).

Mar 6, 2022

This week's episode is all about drugs and the mindset needed to distribute drugs illegally.  Ruan v. U.S. asks whether a doctor accused of violating the Controlled Substance Act should be judged by an objective standard (would every doctor think this was wrong), or a subjective standard (did this doctor think this was wrong).  Law starts at (05:00).

Feb 27, 2022
This week's episode covers Biden v. Texas, a case which asks whether Biden is required to continue a Trump era immigration policy due to some kind of administrative law revenge plot.  This week's episode also discussed how this whole ordeal is analogous to the Philadelphia Eagles 2022 campaign.  Law starts at (03:23).
Feb 20, 2022

Well, Mene Gene, it is the Establishment Clause vs. the Free Exercise Clause because this week's case is Carson v. Minkin, in which a Supreme Court with three new justices must decide whether a State can refuse children from choose religious schools under a State-Scholarship program.  Law starts at (11:00).

Feb 13, 2022

The title this week is more literal than figurative, as we cover Ramirez v. Collier, a case which asks whether someone receiving the death penalty is Constitutionally required to have a religious figure of their choosing physically touching the person and audibly praying.  The law starts at (16:20), but the intro is more about practicing criminal law, as opposed to like whether seafood belongs in ravioli.

Feb 6, 2022

This week's episode covers all the things you love: Ted Cruz, Shaky Campaign Finance Laws, and rich people winning political offices.  Your boys revisit some food talk while discussing Federal Elections Commission v. Ted Cruz, which discussed whether Ted Cruz can get repaid for a $10,000.00 loan he made to Ted Cruz.  Law starts at (10:35).

Jan 30, 2022
This week's episode starts by discussing the pending retirement of Stephen Breyer and what the Court loses with his absence.  The podcast then shifts to the case of NY State Rifle and Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen, which asks whether a concealed-carry permit process violates the Second Amendment.  The law starts from the beginning, but Nazim peppers in like 40 dad jokes with different degrees of appropriateness.
Jan 15, 2022

We have one more emergency episode, which covers the Supreme Court's decisions in NFIB v. DOL and Biden v. Missouri, which discusses why one mandate is OK and the other mandate is not OK.  Once again, there's probably more administrative law than you're expecting.  Law starts from the beginning.

Jan 9, 2022

Sound the alarm, as we are back with an emergency podcast discussing the oral argument in National Federation of Independent Businesses (i.e. the Dudes) v. Department of Labor, and Biden v. Missouri, two cases discussing the Constitutionality of President Biden's Vaccine Mandate, BUT only through the context of Administrative Law.  The law starts from the beginning.

Dec 19, 2021

This week's episode covers two recent opinions by Judge Neil Gorsuch, including Whole Women's Health v. Jackson (which determined whether injunctive lawsuits by abortion clinics to stop the Texas Heartbeat Law could proceed) and Dr. A v. Hochul (which asked whether President Biden's mandate could be enjoined pending a resolution on religious exceptions).  You, the listener, are tasked with playing the part of Oliver Twist, and whether you want more or less of Judge Gorsuch's gruel is a joke that will make more sense during the episode.  Law starts at (09:17), and the podcast will return after a short break at the end of January.

Dec 12, 2021

This week's episode (which is far less attractive than our November 21st episode) covers Thompson v. Clark, a case which asks how not-guilty a person must be to file a 1983 claim against a police officer accused of violating a person's Constitutional Rights.  Although complicated and unsexy, its a case which is interesting in the context of police-officer civil liability.  Law starts at (06:17).

Dec 5, 2021

Brace yourself, as this week's episode covers oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health, a case in which the justices debate the Constitutionality of a 15-week ban on abortions in Mississippi.  Brett and Nazim go through the underlying precedent, and then cover the when, how, and why the Roe and Casey standards may be changed by this decision.  The law starts at (03:11).

Nov 24, 2021

This week's episode is the podcast's favorite tradition, which is answering listener-submitted questions about Thanksgiving, the law, and somehow both of those topics together.  This year includes Biden's Supreme Court, Justices as Thanksgiving dessert, and the proper evaluation of Turkey.  Happy Thanksgiving and we'll be back on December 4, 2021.

Nov 21, 2021

This week's episode covers U.S. v. Vaello-Madero, a case which asks whether excluding residents of Puerto Rico from receiving federal benefits violates the Equal Protection Clause.  The answer is cut-and-dry, but not for the reasons you think.  Law starts at (06:02).

Nov 14, 2021

This week's episode covers United States v. Tsarnaev, which asks whether the Supreme Court will re-instate the death penalty for the Boston Marathon bomber based on two discrete issues of criminal procedure.  The discussion on the story starts at (07:04), but the law begins at (17:24).

Nov 7, 2021

Brett and Nazim return with a discussion on the oral argument in Whole Women's Health v. Jackson and United States v. Texas, which both address the (procedural) Constitutionality of Texas' abortion ban supported by private enforcement.  This discussion includes (1) what are they talking about, (2) how did this get here, and (3) is this going to be over soon.  Law starts at (05:02); and for reference, there are minor sound static in the third act because Brett was pounding on his desk when he talked, but it goes away fairly quickly.

Oct 24, 2021

This week's case covers Cameron v. EMW Women's Surgical Center, which asks whether or not the Kentucky Attorney General can intervene in a case to defend a defunct abortion law when everyone else in the government has given up, but also Nazim's birthday, Nazim's favorite taco, and Nazim's ideal birthday dessert.  Law starts at (10:08).

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